Shepherd's Pie Reviews

"When I was 18, I left my home in Los Angeles to study medieval literature at St. Andrews University in Scotland," writes Scott Kleinman of Los Angeles, California. "Since the university didn't feed us on the weekends, I was forced to feed myself. And over time, cooking evolved from a chore into an enjoyable interest. Today I'm back in Los Angeles as a professor of medieval English literature at Cal State Northridge. I miss Great Britain quite a bit, but I keep in touch by reading British papers and tuning in to the BBC via the Internet. And, of course, I still cook old favorites from my university days. "

Scott perfected this in Scotland. His secret to great flavor is freshly ground black pepper.

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Reviews

users rating3.5/4

Great! And made a lot of food. I served 5 people (the teenager had 3 servings; I had 2) and there are still 2 servings leftover. The 16 year-old specifically requested Shepherd's Pie and liked this very much. I used beef broth in lieu of water, I added a bunch of tomato paste and Worcestershire and increased garlic a bit. I also thew in some carrots. All-in-all a solid meal.

C'mon- nothing wrong with gravy mix once in a while. I don't see where standing and making your own stock to turn into gravy for something like this is going to make it any better than what it is. GOOD stuff.
I add horseradish to the mashed potatoes when I pipe them atop- pretty presentation.
I make this alot and never the same way twice.

I've made this several times, with just
a few changes. I chop the mushrooms up
to hide from the kids. I add about 1
tsb of tomato paste and worstechire and
a little red wine. I also use frozen
peas and carrots for a little more
color. Good comfort food.

I LOVE this recipe.
I find myself
craving it when the
weather gets cooler
and I want some warm
comfort food! I
make it with ground
lamb only (no beef), red
wine in place of the
water, fresh thyme
and frozen mixed
veggies (peas, corn,
carrots). I also
top the dish with a
layer of shredded
cheddar cheese.
YUM!! Recently I
made it for my
boyfriend with
Celiac using a
gluten-free brown
gravy mix. Was
still delicious!

I love shepherd's pie but have never
made it with lamb before, and this
was yummy. I apologize to those who
dislike reviews based upon recipe
changes, but I followed the
recommendations of other reviewers.
My additions: Fresh rosemary and
thyme, worchestershire, diced
carrots, more garlic, lots of
salt and pepper. My substitutions:
Beer (Negra Modelo) and beef stock
instead of water. My mistake: Used 2
packs of "healthy" non-fat gravy
mix...I haven't tried that type of
gravy mix before and didn't realize
that it was so blah. The meat
mixture with the non-fat gravy mix,
even with the herbs and beer, wasn't
very interesting. I had 1 pack of
Knorr brown gravy mix in the pantry
so I cooked that with a whole bottle
of beer (LOL - well, it is pub
food!) and added that to the meat
mixture which resulted in the rich
flavor that I was looking for
(though it was a bit too soupy with
the additional liquid). Next time,
I'll skip "healthy" and use 2 packs
of Knorr with beer or red wine and
broth. This recipe makes a ton of
food so next time I might freeze
half the meat mixture and make less
potato topping. Do try ground lamb
in this recipe if you can find it
because the flavor is so good.

OMG too wonderful!
I modified with
veggies I had on
hand, added beef
broth instead of
water, and fresh,
homegrown BAY LEAF
to enhance it all.
This will be a new
heirloom recipe in
my files! Thanks so
much!

I too took everyone's advice and I beleive that this is now "to die for". I use extra lean ground beef rather than ground lamb (not always easy to get even in the big city). Instead of water, use 3/4 cups of beef broth and 3/4 cups of red wine. Now that the bottle's open, oh well, you may just have to finish it with dinner! I added 1 tsp of thyme and 1/2 can (about 3 oz) of tomato sauce and substituted corn for the peas. My teenagers love it and with a nice fresh loaf of French bread and a salad or another side veggie makes a healthy meal.

It was great and had rave reviews from my dinner party. But, I made the following changes based on what other readers said:
*Added cooking sherry in place of half of the water
*Added liberal amounts of red wine vinegar
*Used portabello mushrooms
*Used turkey instead of lamb
*Added salt, pepper, and thyme
*Added shredded English white cheddar cheese to the mashed potatoes
*Added extra milk and butter to potatoes